


The Twelve Brothers (revised ending)

by plato_rocks



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Grimm's Fairy Tales
Genre: Big Brothers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Kissing and cuddling, Little Sisters, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, The original ending was crappy so I fixed it, They don't turn into birds, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27318055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plato_rocks/pseuds/plato_rocks
Summary: A revised version of the original story "The Twelve Brothers" from Grimm's fairy tales. In this version, the innocent princess picking flowers does NOT unfairly turn her brothers into birds...and they continue to live happily together as a family. The princess does not end up married to a random king, and her brothers are her real "true loves" (no incest).
Kudos: 2





	The Twelve Brothers (revised ending)

**Author's Note:**

> The original Grimm's fairy tale is here: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm009.html
> 
> The part where the brothers unfairly turn into birds just because their little sister picks flowers always made me super angry, so I changed it -- it makes utterly no sense for an innocent, benevolent action to yield such horrendous results!

Once upon a time there were a king and a queen. They lived happily together and had twelve children, all boys. One day the king said to his wife, "If our thirteenth child, which you are soon going to bring into the world, is a girl, then the twelve others shall die, so that her wealth may be great, and so that she alone may inherit the kingdom."

Indeed, he had twelve coffins made. They were filled with wood shavings and each was fitted with a coffin pillow. He had them put in a locked room, and gave the key to the queen, ordering her to tell no one about them.

The mother sat and mourned the entire day, until the youngest son -- who was always with her, and who was named Benjamin after the Bible -- said to her, "Dear mother, why are you so sad?"

"Dearest child," she answered, "I cannot tell you."

However, he would not leave her in peace, until she unlocked the room and showed him the coffins, already filled with wood shavings.

Then she said, "My dearest Benjamin, your father had these coffins made for you and your eleven brothers. If I bring a girl into the world, you are all to be killed and buried in them."

As she spoke and cried, her son comforted her, saying, "Don't cry, dear mother. We will take care of ourselves and run away."

Then she said, "Go out into the woods with your eleven brothers. One of you should climb the highest tree that you can find. Keep watch there and look toward the castle tower. If I give birth to a little son, I will raise a white flag. If I give birth to a little daughter, I will raise a red flag, and then you should escape as fast as you can, and may God protect you. I will get up every night and pray for you, in the winter that you may warm yourselves near a fire, and in the summer that you may not suffer from the heat."

After she had blessed her children, they went out into the woods. One after the other of them kept watch, sitting atop the highest oak tree and looking toward the tower. After eleven days had passed, and it was Benjamin's turn, he saw that a flag had been raised. It was not the white one, but instead the red blood-flag, decreeing that they all were to die.

When the boys heard this they became angry and cried out, "Are we to suffer death for the sake of a girl! We swear that we will take revenge. Wherever we find a girl, her red blood shall flow."

Then they went deeper into the woods, and in its middle, where it was darkest, they found a little bewitched house that was empty.

They said, "We will live here. You, Benjamin, you are the youngest and weakest. You shall stay at home and keep house. We others will go and get things to eat."

Thus they went into the woods and shot rabbits, wild deer, birds, and doves, and whatever they could eat. These they brought to Benjamin, and he had to prepare them to satisfy their hunger. They lived together in this little house for ten years, but the time passed quickly for them.

The little daughter that their mother, the queen, had given birth to was now grown up. She had a good heart, a beautiful face, and a golden star on her forehead.

Once on a large washday she saw twelve men's shirts in the laundry and asked her mother, "Whose are these twelve shirts? They are much too small for father."

The queen answered with a heavy heart, "Dear child, they belong to your twelve brothers."

The girl said, "Where are my twelve brothers? I have never even heard of them."

She answered, "Only God knows where they are. They are wandering about in the world."

Then she took the girl, unlocked the room for her, and showed her the twelve coffins with the wood shavings and the coffin pillows.

"These coffins," she said, "were intended for your brothers, but they secretly ran away before you were born," and she told her how everything had happened.

Then the girl said, "Dear mother, don't cry. I will go and look for my brothers."

Then she took the twelve shirts and went forth into the great woods. She walked the entire day, in the evening coming to the bewitched little house.

She went inside and found a young lad, who asked, "Where do you come from, and where are you going?"

He was astounded that she was so beautiful, that she was wearing royal clothing, and that she had a star on her forehead.

"I am a princess and am looking for my twelve brothers. I will walk on as long as the sky is blue, until I find them." She also showed him the twelve shirts that belonged to them.

Benjamin saw that it was his sister, and said, "I am Benjamin, your youngest brother."

She began to cry for joy, and Benjamin did so as well. They kissed and embraced one another with great love.

Then he said, "Dear sister, I must warn you that we have agreed that every girl whom we meet must die."

She said, "I will gladly die, if I can thus redeem my twelve brothers."

"No," he answered, "you shall not die. Sit under this tub until our eleven brothers come, and I will make it right with them."

She did this, and when night fell they came home from the hunt. As they sat at the table eating, they asked, "What is new?"

Benjamin said, "Don't you know anything?"

"No," they answered.

He continued speaking, "You have been in the woods while I stayed at home, but I know more than you do."

"Then tell us," they shouted.

He answered, "If you will promise me that the next girl we meet shall not be killed."

"Yes," they all shouted. "We will show her mercy. Just tell us."

Then he said, "Our sister is here," and lifted up the tub. The princess came forth in her royal clothing and with the golden star on her forehead, so beautiful, delicate, and fine.

They all rejoiced, falling around her neck and kissing her, and they loved her with all their hearts.

Now she stayed at home with Benjamin and helped him with the work. The eleven went into the woods and captured wild game, deer, birds, and doves, so they would have something to eat. Their sister and Benjamin prepared it all. They gathered wood for cooking, herbs for the stew, and put the pot onto the fire so a meal was always ready when the eleven came home. She also kept the house in order, and made up the beds white and clean. The brothers were always satisfied, and they lived happily with her.

One time the two of them had prepared a good meal at home, and so they sat together and ate and drank and were ever so happy. Now there was a little garden next to the bewitched house, and in it there were twelve lilies, the kind that are called "students." Wanting to bring some pleasure to her brothers, she picked the twelve flowers, intending to give one to each of them when they were eating.

Suddenly a wizened old women appeared out of nowhere, and addressed the sister with great seriousness. "Be careful to whom you give those flowers, my child," she warned. "For they contain a deep and powerful magic. Whosoever shall receive one of those from you, you and he shall be eternally bound to each other. Your happiness will be tied to his, and a day gone without him will be as a year of torture to you. Your lives will be inextricably and irreversibly intertwined." With that the woman vanished just as suddenly as she had appeared.

Rosemary (for that was the little princess' name) turned over the woman's admonition in her mind, and laughed with joy. To be tied by the flowers' magic to her beloved brothers was a delight to her, she who loved and was loved by her brothers with such great, noble passion! She who would submit herself to her brothers' every wish, she who had even been prepared to die to ensure their happiness!

When the brothers came home and sat down to dinner, she went round the table handing each a flower. As she handed the first to her eldest brother Edward, she thought she could see the flower's charm be cast on him. His gentle eyes twinkled brighter than ever as he smelled the flower and gazed at his darling baby sister with intense affection and brotherly desire. She sat on his lap and raised her face to press her tiny rose-red lips to his, losing herself in his strong embrace. He kissed her back passionately, as though he could never satisfy his thirst for her, engulfing and fondling her small frame in his strong masculine arms and massaging her little tongue with his own. She was the only thing that mattered...there was nothing else he cared about in the world...she was the reason for his existence...and every moment spent with her was heavenly bliss.

When Edward finally released her, she gave her second-eldest brother James a flower, saw the same sparkle in his eye and was swooped up into an equally delightful embrace and kiss. So she proceeded to give all her brothers a flower, until only Benjamin's remained. Her darling Benjamin...her saviour and first friend! His reaction was the best of all: he tickled her face with the flower itself, then took her in his arms and peppered her face and neck with delicious little kisses. He let her play with him, giving her the "upper hand" as she caressed his face, before grabbing her firmly by the waist, locking lips with her and drinking in her heavenly sweetness.

The flowers delighted the brothers, and they promised to put them in a vase on the dresser as a reminder of their love for their beloved sister. The flowers were magical indeed, for they never wilted or dried, and when at last the royal siblings returned to their palace many years later once their wicked father had died, the flowers went with them. 

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? I have more fics continuing this story, that deal with the siblings' life in the woods and their eventual return to their kingdom (lots of sibling fluff). I will post them if there is interest!


End file.
